Practicing Pole Dance in Lisboa

We had an exciting opportunity to talk to the multi-talented Carolina Ramos, founder of Pole Dance school ‘Pole Heart’, about the benefits and challenges of establishing herself in Lisbon’s contemporary dance scene. And what pole dance is all about, of course.

“Dancing is like learning a new language. You start with basic words until you can build sentences and finally you are writing poems. In other words, you teach your body to speak.

I have been dancing for as long as I can remember myself. After graduating with Bachelors degree specialising in contemporary dance, I soon discovered pole dancing. Having studied in Netherlands and moved to Lisbon, I was searching for a new challenge in my life – and there it was!

Going back in time almost a decade, there were only 3 pole dance schools in the whole of Portugal. That was the moment I understood how much it has yet to evolve in this country.

Carolina Ramos

After two years of practicing I received an offer to do some teaching. I felt I had a lot to give coming from contemporary dance background so I took the opportunity to contribute to the growth of pole dance community here in Lisbon. After all, teaching seemed like the right path to take – I was turning 33 and realised I wasn’t going to live off dancing forever. I even brought a team from New York to come here and introduce some new techniques. Safe to say it was one of the biggest challenges, but I couldn’t be happier – it will soon be a year since I opened my Pole Dance Academy!

Every trade has its struggles, but I think the biggest one facing pole dancing right now is the stereotype. First, the sexualisation in the popular culture, and second, that it is only for women. It’s not true: pole is for kids, for men, even for elderly people. Don’t close yourself to this excellent opportunity to develop your skills.

It has so many benefits! Both physical and mental. Not only I became stronger, it boosted my self esteem. I am a naturally shy person so getting better at performing the tricky exercises and seeing my body get fit opened up the confident me inside that said – ‘I knew you can do it!’ We like to see ourselves overcome a challenge and grow with experiences. It’s rewarding, especially if it doesn’t even feel like a work out when you’re having so much fun.You just have to open your mind and be willing to learn.

As the usual class is done in a group, we are all about community. We are cheering and supporting each other in success and harder times. Nothing is more rewarding being a teacher than seeing the improvement of my students. Helping each other grow is part of our pole dance routine.”